'We're too late.'
Chishiya pronounces the words as if it were an ordinary statement, as if he didn't feel much about it. I look at him to check that. For a moment he stares blankly at the laser beams, before I can detect any annoyance. Is he mad at me, because thanks to me, it took so long before we could leave? Or is he mad at himself, for having made the decision to wait? If he hadn't, he wouldn't have had to participate in this game.
I repeat the words the computer voice had spoken in my head. "Difficulty: ten of hearts."
'The only missing card,' I hear Kuina mumble, 'outside all three face cards.'
I can still see again how I let those three players die to win myself. I see the collars of that one Suit and that of the girl explode again. I see how Aki is pushed away by the boy, who tries to make sure he doesn't clear the game and would die as a result. This can't be true. I can't play another hearts game, one with a difficulty of ten.
'Are you OK?' Raiden steps up to me and wants to take my arm, but at the last moment he changes his mind, because he knows I normally don't like that. I can see the concern in his eyes. It doesn't matter what happened between us, he still wants to support me. I put my hand on his arm and hold on to him.
He hasn't forgotten that I told him I had three hearts cards in my possession. How could he? Niragi searched my cards and spoke it out loud in the room. Raiden's concerned. Not for his own skin, as if he doesn't trust me and is afraid I'll betray him. No, he's concerned about my well-being.
'I..' I mumble in response, but I don't get much further. I see Kuina and Chishiya looking at us, but I fail to look back.
'We're now explaining the rules of the game,' the voice echoes further across the courtyard. 'All players gather in the lobby.'
Now I'm shaken up. The Beach is an arena and we're forced to participate in this game, or we'll die. But we can also die during the game. There are so many people here, how likely are many of them will die? What are the chances that we will? I look at Raiden, then at Kuina and finally at Chishiya, who looks at the Beach with a hardened face. 'Let's go, then,' he mumbles indifferently, as if he doesn't really care. He has behaved like that in every game, but it takes me a moment to make the switch from his concern to the cold, hard look in his eyes as we move ourselves into the lobby.
As soon as we enter, my eyes glide directly to the table on which dozens of phones are lying. Many have already been taken, but not everyone has registered yet. 'Shuntarō, Chishiya,' I hear next to me. I look to the side to see that Chishiya has already grabbed a phone and completed the facial recognition. Many poker card images appear on the screen. He doesn't look at it and puts the thing in his pocket. Kuina's next to pick up a phone, but I can't bring myself to it. Raiden takes one for himself and hands me mine. I take it without saying anything. After my facial recognition is completed, I take a look at the cards I've already collected.
Now is not the time to collapse. Until now, I have used people and let them be used. I killed people and had to let them be killed. And I will have to do that again. There's no room for doubt and fear. Where I can help my friends, I will, and where our paths must part, I will walk my own way. Otherwise, I will not live.
It feels like a syringe of anaesthetic is being put into my body, because all pressing feelings disappear and I decide to focus on the game and how to clear it.
I'm surprised to hear astonished and indignant cries. I put my phone in my pocket and decide to investigate it. My three associates follow me, to which we arrive in the middle of the lobby, where a girl lies motionless on the floor with a knife in her chest.
'Momoka!' a girl exclaims. She comes running and kneels down beside her, crying.
'The game is witch hunt,' the computer voice says. 'The wicked witch who took her life is among you. The witch role isn't just for woman.' A number of players look around suspiciously. 'Find the witch and burn her in the Fire of Judgment,' the voice continues. 'The time limit is two hours.'
'Fire!' someone shouts as he looks outside in shock. Several Beachers take a few steps towards the window, but from here the fire burning outside is easy to see. I take the moment to take a few steps back and stay in the background.
'The game starts now.'
On the screen of the phone of the boy standing diagonally in front of me, I can see that a digital clock starts counting down from two hours. It isn't even silent for half a second. 'Come on!' Niragi shouts, moving himself in the spotlights. He has a gun in his hands and is looking around the group. 'We're going to look for the witch.' I feel that it's going to escalate. I shouldn't be here.
'Where were you?!' a Beacher shouts to the girl kneeling beside Momoka. 'You're always with her and now you weren't there all of a sudden?!' A girl who is an executive member walks up and stands up for her. She shouts that Hatter was killed by someone from the Beach, as the pattern of the bullet from his body matches the weapons being used here. Another shouts that he walked past the lobby an hour ago, but that he saw nothing. I hadn't seen anything when we passed by, either.
I'm startled by a hand I suddenly feel on my arm. I turn halfway and see Chishiya standing next to me. His face is still rock solid, but from the strength of his grip I can feel that he wants to leave the lobby and that he wants me to come along. Kuina walks away on her own accord and I nudge Raiden for a moment, who tears himself away from the scene and quietly joins us. The others don't seem to notice that we're distancing ourselves.
'Well, who is the witch?!' Niragi shouts. I hear bewildered screams and cries, but I don't turn to see where it comes from or what happened. 'If the witch doesn't come forward,' I hear Aguni say just before I turn the corner, 'I'll throw everyone into the fire.'
We're at the end of the hall when I hear a gunshot in the lobby, followed by screaming and chaos. We rush through the halls. Raiden and I have absolutely no idea where we're going, but Kuina and Chishiya seem to know the way very well. We follow them and arrive at a distant part of the building. Chishiya opens the door and checks that there's no one in this hallway. Kuina quickly goes in, but Raiden seems to have doubts. Since he's in front of me, he blocks the way and I can't enter.
'Go inside,' Chishiya says, 'now.' Raiden still doesn't seem to agree, as he clearly doesn't trust him, but I don't think twice. I turned in three hearts cards. That's well known. What if someone makes that link and goes looking for me, because they think I should be the witch? I don't want to wait in the hallway here to find out. I almost press myself against Raiden to get in, but then he does as he is told. Chishiya's the last to close the door and lock it from the inside.
Raiden looks at him suspiciously and immediately takes a few steps away from him. 'What's this?' he asks in the same tone. 'The control room,' Chishiya replies, nodding at the monitors. I follow his gaze and arrive at various screens that are on and show images of some public spaces. I see people running through each other and pushing each other to the side, to which some are hit by a bullet and fall to the ground.
I hold on to the back of a chair and keep looking at the screens. People that I don't know fall to the ground, but also people whose names I do know. I'm not sure whether it hurts me to see them grabbed and killed, to which they're dragged into the courtyard and thrown into the fire. This is really just another game in which people are killed, whether by other players or by the game leader. I can't do anything about that. I have to make sure it's not me.
From the corner of my eye I can see Chishiya looking at me, so I look back. I can see from his face that he feels the same way: we're back in the apartment complex and I see players being shot by the horsehead, to which I remark indifferently that at least we now know who the tagger is. I was completely calm then, just as I am now. We look like each other. We play well together.
'How do we find out who the witch is?' Raiden brings in. 'At least sixty Beachers are participating and everyone has gone in all directions due to the chaos. What if the witch is in hiding and is not found? When the time is up..' I understand what he's saying: what if the witch is hidden and not found after these two hours? Then we will all lose and die. We can't wait here. We have to do something. We have to find the witch. But..
'And who says it's not you?' It's Chishiya who first says the suspicion out loud, but that thought has already crossed our minds. He looks at Raiden, who in turn looks back at him with narrowed eyes. 'Looks like she's been dead for at least a few hours,' Chishiya continues, 'so who says you didn't do it?'
It should've happened right after Aguni's speech, if Momoka's really been dead for a while. Or already before? I try to remember if I saw her among the others, but I have no idea.
'It can't be me,' Raiden replies, 'I was with Kimora.' Assuming it happened right after the speech then, which we can't know for sure, but he's right: we were together up to an hour before I picked him up again. Kuina and Chishiya look at me, to which I nod. She looks away, but he keeps looking at me. 'So while I was looking for you to find you and leave, you were just with him.' He nods at Raiden as if he's nothing special. 'You knew I wanted to talk to him,' is my reply. Not that we talked much, but okay.
'Why did you want to leave?' Raiden asks. Chishiya looks from me to him and back again. 'You didn't tell him?' he asks me. 'What didn't she tell me?' Raiden looks at Chishiya first, but then at me. 'What didn't you tell me?'
'We stole all the cards we collected out of the safe and we wanted to run away with them,' I reply, still staring at Chishiya. I try to gauge his reaction, but I honestly don't know why he seems so annoyed. 'Is that why you..' Raiden begins, but he doesn't finish his sentence. I look at him to find out what he means, but I can't. 'The night I found you at the bar, wearing his vest,' he continues, nodding at Chishiya for a moment. 'You weren't having fun with him at all. You were working on the plan.'
At the time I wasn't exactly working on that yet, but I nod at him anyway. 'You were working on that plan all along.' I don't know exactly how he means that, but it doesn't sound reproachful. Not jealous either, as Kuina had said at the breakfast table, but somewhat relieved. It seems as if he states that the plan was the reason Chishiya and I were together so much. I don't know how to respond. That's not the only reason, but now there's no room for those feelings.
'What is she doing?' It's Kuina that catches my attention, but when switching to her, I see Chishiya looking at me from the corner of my eye. 'What's Ann up to?' Kuina mumbles, looking at one of the screens. I follow her lead and see the executive member who said that Hatter was murdered. She seems to be in some kind of lab, looking for something. 'I'm going to see what she's up to.'
Although I absolutely can't trust Kuina, because who says she's not the witch, the only thing that comes to mind is that I don't want anything to happen to her. The guys don't respond to her when she moves to the door, but I do. 'Be careful,' I mumble. Kuina stops and looks at me. I can see in her eyes that she understands that I don't want to lose her, even though it would be better for me if I didn't care. She feels exactly the same. She smiles at me and nods, then unlocks the door and walks out into the hallway. I close the door and try to think.
'We were about to leave,' I say, turning back to the boys. 'This is a game of hearts,' I continue, 'and there's not just one assignment.' Chishiya nods and seems to understand. 'The witch is also playing a game and has a different purpose, just like those horseheads had.' I nod, too. 'The witch must make sure that he or she doesn't get caught. Just like those horseheads, that one must've known beforehand that this was going to happen. The apartment complex was in fact cordoned off as an arena, so you could only enter and not go outside. And we didn't see them coming in. They must've been there before the game started, just like the witch.'
'Which excludes the four of us,' Raiden adds, 'because we wanted to leave the Beach behind. If one of us was the witch, they wouldn't have wanted to leave, because that wasn't possible at all without getting a laser through your head.' After saying that he looks at Chishiya suspiciously, as if he still doesn't trust him. 'Unless, of course, the witch already knew the Beach was going to be an arena and therefore didn't want to cross the line.'
For one second, I understand his doubts. Chishiya was the one who kept me from stepping over the line and receiving a laser through my head. At first I didn't realize anything at all. Raiden insinuates that Chishiya already knew, because he would be the witch and therefore knew he couldn't leave the arena.
'Chishiya's not the witch,' I say calmly. I say it, not only because I don't want him to be, but also because it contains logical reasoning. 'If he was and his goal was not to get caught, he would've let us leave the arena. Three smart players less would've been a godsend for him.'
'You mean two,' Chishiya mumbles, glancing at Raiden, giving him an exasperated look from my friend. Before things get out of hand, I say: 'So it has taken us thirty-five minutes now to figure out that the four of us aren't the witch. What now?' I automatically look at Chishiya, because I know he can always think of something. I see him looking across the room with a grin, after which that extreme confident attitude comes around the corner again.
'The power supply has changed since the beginning of the game,' he says. 'The power we used from the generators has changed to the main power of the hotel. So those who run the game, have sneaked into the Beach and are manipulating the current in the basement.' I do my best to follow him. 'All executive members have information about the mainstream,' he explains. 'They have the key that gives access to the cellar.'
'So one of the executive member should be the witch?' Raiden asks, whereupon Chishiya shrugs. 'Perhaps. We can always try.' Raiden still looks suspicious. 'Aren't you also an executive member?' Chishiya sighs and I'll not get into that comment. 'So you want to kill all executive members and throw them in the Fire?' Chishiya shrugs again. 'We have to start somewhere.'
He says it casually, as if their lives don't really matter. Maybe I should say the same. Ultimately, we have to win this game and we can only do that by burning the witch in that fire.
'You want to get out of here and get involved in this chaos?' Raiden asks incredulously. I follow his gaze and arrive at the screens, where I see all kinds of people running through the hallways in panic. Then, my eye falls on the courtyard, where people just drop down without being shot at close range. Chishiya skips the image and zooms in on the roof, where Niragi's shooting people from up there. 'I'll start there,' Chishiya says triumphantly, as if he now finally has a chance to do something against Niragi. I look at him and see that he has no trace of doubt or uncertainty.
Still, I can't help but ask myself if this isn't too dangerous. What if Niragi shoots him? He won't survive that. What then? I'm enveloped in the feeling of pain when I think of it. He can't die. What will remain of me, then?
'Okay,' I try to say as calmly as possible, 'let's go then.' Chishiya looks at me and shakes his head. 'I am going, you mean,' is his response. He looks the same way he did when he told me that he wanted to protect me and that's why he didn't give me any real task during the speech. Is that why he also wants to go alone now? Isn't it because he doesn't trust me?
I think of the exasperated look with which he had looked at the transparent laser beams. He seemed angry about something, or at least extremely annoyed. I need to know. If he leaves now and doesn't come back, I should at least have an answer to my question. 'Why did you look at that dividing line like that?' I ask him. He glances at Raiden, who tries not to participate in the conversation, but of course he can hear it. Then, Chishiya looks at me again without saying anything. Doesn't he know the answer, or does he just not want to say it? I need to know if he was mad at me.
'I'll tell you when I get back,' he says before moving to the door. Without consenting to this response myself, I put my hand forward and take his wrist. 'Were you mad at me?' I ask. Instead of looking at me, he looks at my hand clasped around his wrist. 'No,' he replies shortly. And I believe him.
There is a part of him that has opened up to me, that makes him care about my life. That makes him want to do dangerous things on his own. Not because he doesn't trust me or considers me incapable, but because he wants to protect me. That's the Chishiya I'm seeing right now. He still doesn't look at me, but I know I'm right. So he really was mad at himself for letting it get to the point where he cares about me. I know and share that feeling, but there's nothing we can do about it now. I let go of his wrist.
'Come back,' I tell him. Although he still doesn't look at me, I know the smile on his face is meant for me. 'That's the plan,' he replies before leaving. I close the door behind him and hold down a sigh. For a moment I'm afraid that Raiden will comment on us, but he doesn't. He doesn't even seem to have been preoccupied with Chishiya and me.
'Do you mind?' he asks softly. I walk up to him and follow his gaze. I see an elevator that keeps trying to close, but the body on the ground blocks the doors. Then, I look at Raiden, who looks blankly at the screens. 'You?' I ask. He shrugs. 'I think so,' he replies, 'but I'm trying to suppress that.' I know exactly what he means, but I can't say it. When he looks at me, I give him a quick nod.
I sit down on an office chair and stop looking at the images, because I try to think. This is a game of hearts, one with level ten in fact. This is the highest achievable card of this symbol we have encountered so far. The assignment may sound simple: find the witch and burn it, but how are we supposed to find out who that is?
The militants simply kill everyone and then throw them into the fire, but what if the witch is with one of them? Of course, the witch will hide among the "common folk" and pretend to actively participate in the hunt to avoid detection. Or is it useful to hide, as we do now? It causes you to be hunted instead of you being the one who hunts. Hiding makes you suspicious, while hunting takes the suspicion away from yourself.
It weren't the lambs that were hunted down, it was the wolf. The lambs had to become a wolf to win the game. The witch must become a player to win.
'You didn't have to get me at all,' Raiden says. 'I deserved to be left ignorant.' He has sat down on the office chair across from me, but is still looking at the screens. 'Don't be silly,' is my reply, 'I couldn't go without you.'
'But if you had, you might've gotten out on time.' I shrug. 'Perhaps. Or the game leaders had turned on the arena even earlier, so we were still too late. We don't know.' He looks at me inquiringly, probably to find out if I mean it when I said I wouldn't have left without him. I do. 'I've treated you horribly,' he mumbles with a sigh, 'out of jealousy and insecurity. I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I just pushed you away and I hurt you. And why? I don't even know.'
'I don't know, either,' I reply. 'I just know we have to move on.' I look at the images again and arrive at the lab, where I see Kuina and Ann frantically searching for something. I look at the hallways and see Chishiya cautiously making his way towards the roof. 'We have to do something,' I say. 'I don't know what, but we have to do something. We can't sit here and wait for the game to clear itself.' I grab my phone and see that we still have an hour of playtime.
'If I were the witch,' I think out loud, 'I would join in the hunt to take away the suspicion. If you're the one killing other people, you won't be killed yourself.' Raiden nods, as if he agrees with me. 'Argh,' I mumble in frustration, 'this is a game and any game can be solved.'
Everyone must draw a fortune card and follow what's written on it. Not everyone gets a question that they have to answer, garlands also have to be removed. Be the wolf to win. Run away from the tagger and find the safe zone. Hold on to the bar and don't let go, until you reached the top. Stay out of the hands of the mascots and find the exit. Each player pulls the trigger once. Be safe and out of the room when the time is up. Each person may turn over eight cards and have two matching sets. All players of the losing team will be killed.
Often enough, we have interpreted the rules in a certain way, taking them for facts. Each player pulls the trigger once. It hasn't been said that we should do that while holding the gun to our own heads, we made that one up ourselves. Every player may turn over eight cards. It hasn't been said that we weren't allowed to help the others with our attempts, we made that one up ourselves. All players of the losing team will be killed. It hasn't been said that we needed to have a winning team, we made that one up ourselves.
Kuina is standing in the bar, fighting the militant with tattoos all over his body and face. Chishiya is standing on the roof and talks to Niragi, who has his gun pointed at him. I can't sit here and do nothing. I need to do something. I'm just about to get up when I see Chishiya throwing the cards in the air. Niragi gets distracted and misses the shot. Chishiya brings up a water gun, only fire comes out instead of water. Niragi catches fire and falls off the building.
'Holy shit,' Raiden mumbles.
Meanwhile, Beachers are still being shot in the hallways and I see Arisu walking with Usagi and two others. They retreat to one of the rooms. Several screens show how a fire spreads through the resort.
This has to stop. We have to clear this game. Think, Kimora, think. What would the witch do? No, what would the game master do? Because the witch is also forced to play the game. The game master makes the rules. Pull the trigger, flip eight cards, a losing team dying.
The witch who killed Momoka is among us. We have to find that person and burn it in that fire before the time runs out.
The images show that the militants have driven a large group of Beachers to the lobby and are holding them at gunpoint. 'What are you going to do?!' Raiden shouts when I suddenly get up. 'I don't know,' I reply, 'but I have to do something.' He stops me by blocking the door and blocking my way. 'Raiden!' I shout. 'If we stay here, we'll never find the witch! And I'm not going to rely on others to clear the game for me!' He looks at me for a long time, before finally nodding. 'All right,' he says before opening the door and walking into the hall with me.
We quietly move ourselves through the hallways, but in the end there's no other way than to go through the lobby. 'Kill them all,' I hear Aguni say. Raiden and I slowly move closer and hide behind a pillar. First I look at the group that is cornered, but then my eyes naturally seek him out. Chishiya's on the first floor, watching the scene while hiding himself. Would he still want to kill all executive members? From here, it becomes difficult without getting hit himself. He runs his eyes over the militants. I don't know how he managed to do it, but then he seems to find me, too. I see something of worry going through his eyes, after which he keeps looking at me to the group.
'Stop it!' I hear someone shout. I look across the lobby, where I see Arisu and the other three. 'Let's end this game,' the boy says, helping to support him. Most of the living Beachers now seem to have come together here. Probably some are still missing, but the only person I am missing, is Kuina.
'You locked me up,' Arisu tells Aguni and the militants out there. He looks at the new leader. 'All the time, even when the murder took place. You know I couldn't have been the witch. If you're not the witch, you don't have to kill me. Please cooperate and find the witch.'
I look up again and try not to be shocked, but I get restless now that I no longer see Chishiya standing there. I look up when I hear screams and see Arisu fall to the floor. Judging by Aguni's attitude, he has kicked him to the ground. Usagi tries to stand up for him, but is also pulled to the ground. 'Now I know!' she calls out, looking up at Aguni. 'The reason you attacked Arisu, even though he's the only one with an alibi. You're the witch.'
There are cries of indignation. I feel that this will escalate again. Aguni and the militants have driven the Beachers to the lobby to easily kill them and drag them to the fire. I shouldn't be here. Raiden shouldn't be here. But I can't leave, not now that we're so close to the solution.
'Yes,' Aguni says quietly, 'I am the witch.' There is a shocked reaction, after which the militants aim their weapons at the leader. Something's wrong. I feel it. Aguni isn't stupid. If he really were the witch, he wouldn't admit it publicly. Something else must be going on, but what? Aguni drops his own weapon and approaches a doubting, frightened militant. 'Shoot, then. Do it.' Why does he ask for this? Why does he just give up after he just gave orders to kill everyone? 'Aguni's not the witch,' Arisu says. 'This is a ten of hearts. A game that plays with people's feelings.' He looks at Aguni. 'You're not the witch. Then why are you doing this? Because you have a different motive. The person you killed wasn't Momoka. It was Hatter.'
Shouts of indignation and shock fill the lobby once again. I look from Arisu to Aguni and see that the leader is touched by his words. There's a certain pain in his eyes. 'I knew when I saw your eyes,' Arisu continues. 'It was as if you had given up all hope. I had the same look that day.' Slowly, he gets up and starts talking about his friends, whom he let die. 'You're not stupid. Still, you wanted to kill everyone right away. You couldn't forgive your best friend for his crazy behaviour. You wanted him to regain his senses.'
'Hm.' I'm startled by Chishiya's voice, that I suddenly hear behind me. I turn my head and look at him. He looks at me neutrally, but I'm sure there are all kinds of emotions in my eyes. He notices, I can see it. He can read the relief on my face. He's here in front of me, alive, and we need to figure out the solution.
While Arisu continues to talk to Aguni, I try to think again. What would the game master do? How can the rules be interpreted differently? Pull the trigger, flip eight cards, a losing team dying. The witch who killed Momoka is among us. We have to find that person and burn it in that fire, before the time runs out.
It's a game of hearts.
I capitalized on Wataki's doubts and emotions, which allowed me to linger long enough to overpower him and take over the wolf role. Everyone from the room of "A" from the poisoned chalice did everything they could to persuade the people of "B" to give their part of the key, otherwise they wouldn't be able to leave the room themselves. The people of "B" threatened them with the electric shock, but not everyone fell for it. One girl did. She took the warning seriously and freed the boy from his room, but he betrayed her by not taking off her bracelet.
You play with other people's feelings and betray and kill each other. Chaos had to come to the Beach to take care of the dead.
Everyone could've finished the poisoned chalice. Everyone could've played out memory. Maybe, there would've even been a way to clear the hide and seek game, if I had thought carefully. But in my last two games of hearts, no one had to die. Just like no one had to die during laser tag and Russian roulette.
And now, no one had to die, either. At least, no one extra.
The witch who killed Momoka is among us. We have to find that person and burn it in the fire, before the time runs out.
It was never said that we should kill each other and throw each other into the fire, only that the witch should be found and burned. It has never been said that the witch among us was alive at the beginning of the game.
'Momoka,' I mumble in bewilderment. Chishiya looks at me quizzically, but I turn and look at her body. The knife had since been taken out, but she's still there. 'She has to go to the Fire,' I whisper, still in bewilderment. Raiden gives me a questioning look. Chishiya comes closer and looks at me inquisitively. 'Momoka is the witch.' I speak so softly that I can barely hear myself, but I'm sure they did.
This is a game of hearts. Nobody needed to die anymore.
'You killed your friend,' Arisu says to Aguni, 'so you wanted to kill everyone on that Beach for driving your friend crazy. You're hurt, the game master used you. That's why this is a game of hearts.'
Just like the previous times, I know I'm right.
'She's the..' Chishiya mumbles, but he doesn't finish his sentence. He looks from me to Momoka and back to me with a bewildered expression on his face. He understands what I mean. He knows I'm right.
'Maybe there was a way to end the game without killing everyone,' Arisu says. 'A solution where no one had to die.'
I look at Momoka, but I don't see how I can get her to the fire so quickly without being caught and maybe even stopped. Yet it must. We only have fifteen minutes left. I want to move myself forward, but Chishiya grabs my wrist and pulls me back. He keeps holding me, like he's trying to stop me.
'But that's impossible!' a girl shouts. 'We must find the witch and burn her in the Fire of Judgment!' Arisu looks baffled. 'There is one person who makes it possible. It's only possible..' he mumbles, pointing to the dead girl, 'if Momoka herself is the witch.'
For a moment, it's completely silent. 'Momoka stabbed herself to death?' Arisu nods. 'Yes. If I were the game master, this would be my plan.' He is kicked to the ground by Aguni. 'What a joke!' he exclaims. 'I am the witch!' He starts to provoke the others, but everyone steps back, startled. 'You want to kill me, right?!'
Why does Aguni want to die so badly? Because he killed Hatter, like Arisu said? Aguni starts to fight and knocks off the Beachers. The despair in his eyes.. He looks lost and full of hatred. He starts screaming. 'The Beach was driving him crazy! You all drove him crazy!' That's why he takes this time. That's why he distracts everyone. He killed his friend and now he hates everyone. Now everyone has to die.
I look at Momoka, who's still left alone by everyone. They bend over the fight with Aguni or stand still like a sack of potatoes. I want to step forward again, but Chishiya stops me. 'Let me go!' I shout to him. 'We have to take her to the Fire!' He looks firmly as he shakes his head. There is too much risk, I know, but someone has to do it, right? We have to finish this game before it's too late. I want to try to tear myself away again, but then everything stops when someone shouts: 'Listen everyone!'
I look in the direction of the voice. The girl who was with Usagi and Arisu is in the centre of the lobby. 'I'm the dealer of this game.' As soon as she says that, a laser beam comes straight through the building, straight into her head, and then she sinks to the ground. It remains silent. Chishiya's hand drops from my wrist.
'The grip was reversed.' Everyone is looking in the direction of the voice. Ann enters while being supported by Kuina. I look at her with relief. Ann is holding a knife wrapped in a handkerchief. 'There are reverse fingerprints on the knife.' My thought and Arisu's statement are confirmed. 'Momoka is the witch,' Ann says.
'Why would she kill herself for a game?' a girl asks. 'Was Momoka really the game master?' Someone else points to the girl that just got hit by the laser beam. 'She said she was the dealer. Was this just a game?'
'She's human,' someone else responds, 'just like us.'
Chishiya and I look at each other for a moment. That means that people who move themselves among us can lead a game.
'Those two may also have been receiving orders from someone,' Usagi says. 'Aguni,' Arisu says, 'let's stop this. Don't let the innocent people die for nothing. I understand what it feels like to kill your friends, but we shouldn't take our frustration out on the people who are still alive!' It's quiet for a while, until someone suddenly shouts: 'The fire is spreading!' I think about the fire I saw on the camera images. 'Hurry up! Take Momoka to the Fire of Judgment!' Finally someone comes to his senses. Several Beachers move to the body, but one falls upon hearing a gunshot. Another soon follows.
We duck and I look in the direction where the shots came from. Someone comes stumbling along with a burning torch in one hand and a rifle in the other. 'That hurt,' the person mumbles. 'Niragi?!' I hear someone say. My heart stops. Niragi was burned, right? Chishiya has set him on fire with his homemade gadget. Bewildered, he's startled for a moment. Niragi doesn't look this way, but I still stand in front of Chishiya. He shouldn't see him. Otherwise, he'll shoot him.
'I'll finish the game with this,' Niragi says as he tosses the torch in the middle of the lobby and starts firing. Chishiya and I try to pull each other away at the same time and we hide behind a pillar. Raiden's hiding behind the pillar about five meters away, but Kuina was still there. Niragi continues to shoot at random and Beachers start to run away, screaming.
'No,' I say, 'we have to throw Momoka into the Fire!' Chishiya wraps his arms around me and pulls me back to the ground. His grip is firm. 'It's too dangerous, Kimora.' For a moment the shots stop, but he keeps holding me. 'I'll kill you all!' Niragi shouts. The shots continue, but Aguni's screams can be heard louder. Both the shots and the screams disappear into the distance, but I can't move to see what happens. Then, it's completely quiet in the lobby, which makes me shake up by hearing a jingle.
'Three more minutes,' the computer voice says. At the same time as I try to tear myself out of Chishiya's grasp, he lets me go and quickly helps me up. 'There is no time!' Kuina shouts. We come around the corner, but see enough people grab Momoka and move het into the courtyard. We stop for a moment, but then we walk outside. In the meantime I run into Kuina. I take her arm and give her a half hug, because I'm relieved that she's still alive. As soon as she sees me, she also holds me for a moment. Yet I know that the danger hasn't completely passed. We haven't yet received the redeeming words.
Everyone is outside now, looking at the funeral pyre where Momoka is being thrown in. I feel my body tremble with tension. In addition, the fire is so very hot. I get startled when I hear a jingle coming out of my pocket.
'Game cleared,' is being said, 'congratulations.' It's still said that the survivors of this game will now be provided with a ten-day visa, but I don't really listen to it. I don't even know how many visa days I have left and to be honest, I don't care either.
I don't know how long it has been silent, but the silence is broken by one of the militants throwing himself on his knees and bringing the gun to his head. He pulls the trigger, but no bullet comes out. The weapon is empty. He's already used up all his ammunition shooting Beachers.
Raiden and I keep looking at the fire, but Chishiya moves himself back inside. I can't bring myself to look at him or go after him. Raiden and I came here to find answers, but this place has caused us a lot of trouble and misery. Here we got into an argument and here we experienced dozens of people being murdered. In all the games put together, I have never even experienced anything like this.
I feel what I felt after playing hide and seek again, but much worse. Even if I tried to cry right now, nothing would come out of my eyes. I think about the boy I shot dead and suddenly, I'm back in the botanic gardens.
"Can you live with the fact that you let three people die?"
Those were the words I spoke to Wataki, to keep him from blinding himself and ending up as a wolf.
"Can you?!" he bounced back.
Yes. That's the worst of all. Still. Yes, I can, because I do. It was them or me again, and I chose myself again. And I would do it again. I want to live. That's why I let it happen. Just as I made it happen that we used Usagi and Arisu in our plan to steal the poker cards.
The cards!
I tear myself away from the fire and look inside again. The whole resort is now on fire and the Beachers are looking lost, including Raiden, but not me. 'Our card,' I say to Raiden, but he doesn't reply. I grab his arm and pull it gently, but he still doesn't respond. I let go and walk back inside, where I find Chishiya at the table.
'We've got everything but the last three face cards now,' he says as soon as he realizes I'm standing next to him. It sounds business-like, but I can't bring myself to be bothered about it. I understand very well. Tonight's events made me realize that his attitude is the right one in this world. 'Yes,' I say, pulling out my own card. Just like after the last game I played, this time I also hold up the card for the collector.
Chishiya looks at it for a moment, before taking the card and looking at me. He doesn't touch my hand, but there's a soft look in his eyes. He clearly likes that I feel the same way he does.
'I would answer your question when I would be back,' he says. I had asked him why he had looked at the dividing line so annoyed. I thought he might be mad at me for not getting out on time, because of my dawdling. But that wasn't it. He was annoyed with himself for letting it get to the point where he cares about me now. I still share that feeling, but I also accept it.
I let go of the card and shake my head. It's not necessary to answer it. Kuina joins in and also takes her card.
'What I wonder..' Chishiya says. 'What does the game management want?'